Common set of standards would improve education - OUR OPINION

Republican state legislators are opposing introduction of a set of uniform educational goals widely adopted in the rest of the nation.

The legislators' concern is that the move heralds a federal takeover of the nation's educational system from state and local government.

We can get a glimpse of their concern. But we don't share it.

The Common Core State Standards are a set of benchmarks in reading, math and writing which have been adopted in 44 states. They're not the product of federal agencies, although they have the blessing of the Obama administration, which has connected the standards to some funding sources.

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Rather, they were developed by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. In Michigan, the changes focus more on writing, fewer topics but greater depth in math, with more algebra and geometry.

In Michigan, the standards were adopted by the state Board of Education in 2010. The opposition is growing in other states as well as our own.

Rep. Tom McMillin, R-Rochester, backs a bill to prohibit Michigan from using the standards and the test that accompanies them. Budget bills approved in both houses prohibit the Department of Education from spending to implement the program.

But the three-year-old standards are already in use in some Michigan districts and classrooms.

"This train has already left the station," said Michael Yocum, executive director of learning services at Oakland Schools, the county's intermediate school district. And teachers so far are happy with the results they're seeing.

The legislators' views might make some sense if Michigan kids led the nation in achievement.

They don't.

Our kids are falling further behind those in other states, an advocacy group reported a year ago, with "alarming and persistent" problems across race and income groups. Michigan as of 2012 had dropped from 28th to 35th in fourth-grade reading, from 27th to 41st in fourth-grade math.

There's no doubt we can do better. A common set of standards, regardless of the source, will provide more direction to teachers, provide uniform measurement of achievement and problems across the nation and promote best practices for teaching to all children. It might even make it easier to reach that oh-so-important goal: teacher accountability.